What can you do with your old phone book?

By Gayle Love….By now, most Miami-Dade County residents should have received new telephone directories. But what to do with the old ones? Recycle them, says the Miami-Dade Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM).

“Recycle your old phone books; it’s smart and great for the planet,” said Kathleen Woods-Richardson, Solid Waste director.

“If everyone of our solid waste customers recycles his or her old phone books, we can save a tremendous amount of resources.”

Indeed, if 17 trees are saved for every ton of paper recycled and DSWM customers each recycle four pounds of telephone directories, that amounts to 680 tons of recycled paper — and 11,560 trees saved.

“Recycling your old phone books also saves energy, water, landfill space, and it reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” Woods- Richardson said. “And it’s very easy to do. Just place the old directories in your blue recycling cart and you’re done.”

The Miami-Dade Department of Solid Waste Management provides curbside recycling service to 348,000 households in the unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade County as well as all residences in participating municipalities such as Cutler Bay, Florida City, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest and South Miami.

For more information about Miami- Dade’s curbside residential recycling program — including details on what can and cannot be recycled, as well as how to properly dispose of items that are not recyclable — visit the Department of Solid Waste Management’s website at www.miamidade.gov/dswm/ or call 3-1-1.